


Leticia Rye in Cutting Edge- A Skulduggery Pleasant Fanfiction

by Magical_Mages



Category: Skulduggery Pleasant - Derek Landy
Genre: Cross-Posted on Wattpad, Original Character(s), Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-07
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:00:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25133530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Magical_Mages/pseuds/Magical_Mages
Summary: Leticia Rye is a teacher, not a fighter. But that wasn't always the case...Former Cleaver, Leticia, is dragged back into the world of action when Temper Fray needs her help. But the main problem isn't that Leticia has left the action to become a teacher or even that the person Temper is investigating is protected by the new Religious Freedom Act. No, the main problem is who else Temper has hired; Dexter Vex, Dead Man and Leticia's ex.This is also a part of my OC collection on Wattpad (Nicasia_Grey) I'm hoping to flesh it out a bit more on here :)
Relationships: Dexter Vex/OC
Kudos: 8





	1. Chapter 1

The light bulb flickered to life in Leticia Rye's hallway as she returned home from a long day at work. She walked into the kitchen and tossed her coat and keys down on the counter before making herself a cup of hot chocolate. She'd been working with teenagers all day- she reckoned she deserved it. She slumped down on the sofa with her drink and groaned inwardly as she remembered the reports she needed to write. So many reports. Her students were a good bunch all things considered although it wasn't hard to pick out Auger Darkly's crew of crime fighters. Auger Darkly was the Chosen One, or a chosen one at least, so naturally he and his friends frequently missed school for a life of adventure. There was Never who, as a teleporter, seemed much keener to learn how to avoid a fight rather than fight a fight. Kase and Mahala who she knew the least about although she was sure she'd heard somewhere that Kase's mother had left his father for a hollow-man. They were good kids regardless, fought well but lacked imagination. Then, of course, the Chosen One himself. Auger was an ideal student however he already knew much of what she taught so he wasn't much of a challenge. He was extremely kind and supportive to his peers and she often found him teaching his sparring partner the technique rather than actually sparring. His only flaw, as far as she could tell, was that he was far too comfortable in his abilities. He wasn't cocky or arrogant in any way but Leticia could tell he rarely met an opponent smarter or stronger than him. She was rather looking forward to sparring against him the next day. The final student that caught her eye was the twin brother of the Chosen One- Omen Darkly. She knew Omen had trained with his brother growing up but from years and years of being the human punching-bag for his brother, he lacked any sort of aggression when it came to fighting. He didn't seem to be involved in his brother's adventures at all although she knew Valkyrie Cain and Skulduggery Pleasant had enlisted his help a little while back. His potential was there, he just had to be motivated enough to seize it.

By eleven O'clock, she'd finished the first half of her reports and grabbed something to eat and so she trudged upstairs. After a quick shower, she changed and was settling into bed when a shark knock at her her window shook her out of bed. Scowling, she flung open the curtains to reveal the grinning face of Temper Fray. She glared at him before letting him in. "What," she seethed "do you want". Temper made a face of feigned hurt "Is it not enough for me to simply want to see an old friend?"

"You could've used the door."

"Ah, I've been around Skulduggery and Valkyrie too much. You rarely use doors when you're around those two." Leticia sighed, "what can I help you with, then?" She started making her way to the kitchen, beckoning for Temper to follow. She grabbed a hoodie off her bed and pulled it on. "I'm investigation Arch-canon Creed and his church."

"Risky," Leticia said "that new religious freedom act isn't quite working in your favour here. Tea?"

"Please and yes that's what I'm here about. Creed is activating people again, I'm sure of it, but there's something else too. Something much worse. If I can catch him in the act then maybe I can convince the Supreme Mage to intervene. The problem is I can't infiltrate the church, I'd be far too obvious but you-"

"Forget it." she interrupted without looking up from the tea she was pouring. "I'm not being pulled into your little quests again."

"Aw come on, 'Ticia-" 

"No." she whirled around to face him "No way. It always starts off as some little job that ends up with me nearly getting killed. And I can't- I can't do that. Not anymore. I can't- my brain can't-" she sighed. "I have a job now, Temper. I'm a teacher for God's sake I can't just drop everything and come running when you need an extra lackey." Temper's good humour was replaced with a gentle look as he placed a hand on her shoulder. Temper stood at around six feet, making him tower over Leticia who was a measly five foot four. "You're not a lackey, 'Ticia, you never have been. If you really ca't handle this that's OK but I know you. You're stronger than you let on, and you're definitely stronger than you think. This doesn't have to be done right away, we can wait until the weekend or whenever you're ready." Leticia scoffed "You underestimate how busy teachers are." She went to turn away but he grabbed her and forced her to look into his eyes. Goddammit he knew she'd always been a sucker for those eyes. She sighed and looked away, "What do you need doing?" she mumbled. Temper's face split into a grin "Knew I could count on you. Meet me outside the High Sanctuary on Saturday, 10 AM. I'll brief you then." Leticia blinked "Wait, that wasn't a yes that- Temper!" But Temper was already halfway out the door. "Can't hear you, already gone! Miss you already!" he called back. She could hear the stupid grin in his voice. She grumbled something vulgar before yelling after him "Wait! You didn't drink your tea!"

The slamming of the door left her alone once again. Grinning despite herself, Leticia tipped away the contents of Temper's mug before bounding back up the stairs in a considerably lighter mood. She'd never admit it but she always had a soft spot for Temper, he was one of the few people whose company she actively enjoyed. She settled down into the comfort of her bed and warm memories of Temper and herself wriggled out from the crevices of her brain. She couldn't keep lying to herself. While she wasn't strong enough to do what Temper did every day, she couldn't deny that she was a soldier at heart. She couldn't deny that she would eventually be called to action again, and she may as well be ready for when she was. She reckoned an only partially life-threatening mission with Temper was a nice way to ease back into things before she was asked to fight the moon or something ridiculous. After all, she never knew what the world was going to throw at her next.


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dexter shows up. Some slightly angsty fluff :)

Auger spun and kicked and ducked. He was the Chosen One, but Leticia was experienced. He was fast, but she was faster. He was strong, but she was stronger. He pressed on and she let him come. She was patient, she was a hunter, she let him think he had the upper hand. The rest of the class watched on in awe as their teacher and their strongest classmate circled each other like two hungry lions. They were engaged in a furious but controlled manner. Auger was tiring much faster than Leticia seemed to be but he didn't let that waver his confidence, he still seemed sure he was going to emerge on top. They kicked and punched and jabbed, one would make a grab for the other but then they'd dart just out of reach. Leticia even let him take her down once or twice, but anyone who knew her knew she was toying with him. His classmates were cheering for him, despite the sweat and the increasing fatigue, Auger seemed to be holding his own. He seemed to be a match for her. And then he made a mistake. It was a tiny mistake, the opening he offered was so small most adversaries would have missed their shot before they even registered it. But Leticia was not most adversaries, this tiny opening was what she'd been waiting for, and it was all she needed. It took her a mere second to step into the opening Auger had left, a mere second more for her to grab his extended arm and jam her hips into him. He flipped over and landed hard on his back. Before he had time to even register what happened, there was an arm around his throat. He struggled but he had no choice, he tapped out. 

Leticia released her hold immediately and helped him up. Once she was sure he was OK and she'd sent him to go get some water and cool down, she turned to the class. "So, for the eagle-eyed among you, what is my strategy? Anyone? Yes, Kase." 

"You're patient," Kase spoke from the middle of the group "you waited for him to tire so he'd make a mistake and then you exploited it." Leticia nodded, "But why let him play around?" she asked. "Why even let him think he has the upper hand? I could have ended that fight much earlier on if I wanted to but I didn't and it wasn't just because I'm nice." Kase shook his head, "I don't know. Miss." Leticia smiled at him, "That's fine. Anyone else? Let's see, how about you, Omen?" Omen jumped out of whatever daydream he was having and blinked at her. "Uhh," he went red. Leticia sighed, "Were you listening, Omen?" He went even redder. This got giggles from the class which Leticia silenced with one of her looks. "Sorry, Miss Rye." he mumbled. "That's quite alright, Omen. We're all guilty daydreamers at one point or another, just do try and avoid it when I'm teaching OK?"

"OK." he mumbled back. She turned back to the class, "Any ideas then?" Axelia Lukt raised her hand. "Yes, Axelia?" 

"You let him think he had the upper hand so he'd get confident and more likely to slip up? And you let the fight go on for that long to make sure you knew his technique so there weren't any, um, like, surprise moves he could pull?"

"Very good, Axelia. A good portion of the fight comes from knowing your enemy. You must know the environment they are most comfortable in and you must not fight them in it. For example, a wrestler will try get you on the ground. A boxer will stay on their feet. A wall-walker will try fight somewhere enclosed and an energy thrower will try fight somewhere with space. Also, avoid fighting people in their own homes. They know all the little nooks and crannies- you don't. Know their technique and devise one to counter it. Think on your feet, think quick and think smart. Brute strength will win you a battle but it's smart decisions and strategy that will win you a war. Now, you still technically have five minutes left but I've run out of teacher-like things to say. Class dismissed early today, get out of my sight before I start swearing at you or something." The sweaty teenagers started milling to the showers "And don't mention this to your other teachers! This job is the only thing keeping me a mildly respectable person!" Her students laughed and thanked her, bidding their farewells as they entered their changing rooms. 

Leticia smiled to herself and she went to pack up her things. "Excuse me, Miss Rye." Leticia nearly jumped out her skin, she turned to see Auger looking almost sheepish which was unlike him. "Oh, Auger. Sorry, is there something I can help you with?" Auger nodded, "Uh, yeah. If you don't mind me asking, where did you train? I don't think I've ever seen someone fight the way you do. Most people have like, one technique or maybe two but yours seems to be completely dependent on who your fighting." Leticia nodded, "I trained at a Cleaver Academy." Auger stared at her for a second, "You were a Cleaver?"

"Yup. There are loads of ex-Cleavers living in Roarhaven. Where did you think we went after our service?" Auger frowned, "I don't know, I never really thought about it." Leticia smiled thinly "Cleaver training is tough, and I mean really tough. It isn't just physical, it's psychological. All Cleavers undergo voluntary brainwashing and behavioral indoctrination. That's why we follow orders without hesitation. There tend to be less women as Cleavers because men are simply more susceptible to the process." 

"But what's it like?" Auger asked, "To have your personality completely stripped away?" Leticia grimaced, "It's rough. There's more than a decade of my life where I wasn't really me. I remember it all clear as day but, it's like I wasn't really there. I remember watching comrades die but not feeling any sorrow. All I cared about was following through with my orders, no matter the consequences. Then, my ten years of service were up and I chose to return to my life and well, here I am now." Auger nodded slowly, "What's the training like?" He asked. "I can't tell you that exactly I'm afraid, those memories aren't particularly nice ones and I do my best to keep them down. But to answer your question about my strategy- the best technique, and the hardest to learn, is no technique at all. Master every fighting style you can, when the fight starts out- play their game, match their style,let them think they have you. Then switch it up a little, catch them off guard. Given time you'll notice patterns in people's strategies and you'll know just what do when you come across one." Auger nodded again, he was nodding a lot."That's, wow OK, that's amazing. Do you think you could teach me?"

"That is my job, Auger."

"Oh yeah. Well, I should probably go, uh, see you on Monday." Leticia smiled to him and he left. Then, she got ready to leave herself. 

*

Leticia's hall light was on when she pulled up outside her house later that evening. Her insides went cold, she was sure she'd turned that off. She slowly dismounted her bike and removed her helmet. She got to the door- it was unlocked. She had definitely locked the door, someone was in her house. She opened it soundlessly and crept through the hall. She knew exactly which floorboards squeaked and which covered her approach completely. She slipped into the living room and crept over to the cabinet where she kept one of her scythes. She slid it from its holder, it was as sharp as the day she'd put it there. Scythe in her hands and a new sense of reassurance in her blood, she went back to the hall. The light was on in the kitchen, as she grew closer she heard someone rummaging about and the hum of the radio. They opened her fridge and, from the sounds of it, poured themselves some cereal. Leticia frowned but decided there was no point in hiding any longer, she had a guest and she might as well greet them. She stepped into the light, scythe raised, and was greeted by the sight of Dexter Vex, frozen with a spoonful of Cornflakes halfway to his mouth. He blinked at her, then put the cereal down quickly. He tried for one of his grins "Hey 'Ticia." his voice was coarse, like it hurt to talk, yet intoxicating as it had always been. She looked at him and she blinked, she blinked again. He would later tell her that she blinked seven times in total before speaking. "'Hey 'Ticia'?" She repeated slowly. "'Hey 'Ticia'? I haven't seen you in years, you've just broken into my house and all you can say is 'Hey 'Ticia'?" Dexter winced "Ah, here we go. Look-"

"No," she interrupted. "No, you do not get to steer this conversation." She put her scythe down in case she ended up wanting to stab him but kept it close in case she ended up wanting to stab him. "What the hell? You just up-and-outed years ago, I've barely heard anything from you since then. The last I officially heard about you was that you'd been permanently possessed by a remnant," she didn't tell him that he'd actually paid her a visit as a remnant. She tried her best to forget it and saw no point in torturing him further. "And then that you'd had your throat torn out by Darquesse and now, and now you're just here eating my cereal." Her voice grew quiet as she reached the end of her sentence and she slumped down in a chair. Dexter hesitated for a second. He pushed her scythe a little further away. Then he slipped into the chair across from here. "I'm sorry Leticia, I should've made more of an effort to stay in contact. I shouldn't have left you, it wasn't fair but the fact is I'm here now." Now that he was closer, Leticia could see how tired his eyes were, his beard and dark blonde hair looked unkept. "And besides I didn't really break in."

"You picked my lock, Dex."

"Yes well, it was a particularly easy lock to pick, you were basically asking for it." Leticia decided she didn't have the energy to glare at him and instead rolled her eyes, too tired to fight off the smile that crept onto her face. "Why are you here, Dexter?"

"Temper called me in. Well, he called Tanith in but Tanith was busy so Tanith called me in to help Temper who called you in so I decided to call in and make sure we're on good terms so I didn't just show up tomorrow and immediately find a scythe in my chest. So... Are we on good terms?" Leticia couldn't help it, she smiled. "That depends, are you going to continue eating my cereal?" Dexter paused, "I'm really hungry..." She laughed "Fine, we're on good terms, dummy. Just don't eat all my food." Dexter grinned that damned grin of his "No promises."

She busied herself with making dinner for the two of them and Dexter told her all about his travels. He told her about all the amazing places he'd been and all the life-threatening situations he'd miraculously survived. He told her about where he was during the War of the Sanctuaries, told her about the Dead Men's excursion to France to retrieve The Engineer. He told her all about Valkyrie Cain and how she'd earned her place among the Dead Men. Leticia believed him, she'd only met Valkyrie a couple of times but she could tell she was made of the same stuff as the guys were. He told her about the day Ghastly Bespoke and Anton Shudder died, how Erskine Ravel had betrayed them. His voice caught slightly as he told that story. Leticia had been there the day they died, she saw it in person but she didn't interrupt. She hadn't known Bespoke or Shudder particularly well but they'd been kind to her, or at least civil in Shudder's case, and they were good men. They didn't deserve the death they got. He told her about Devastation Day, although he could remember nothing personally as he was bound to a remnant. Leticia remembered the feeling she'd felt when she thought she'd lost Dexter to that remnant. It still haunted her to that day. Then, she told him about herself. Where she was on Devastation Day and during the war, she told him about her job and he'd laughed when she told him she was a teacher. He asked if she'd cracked and killed any students yet. When they were finished their meal and their stories, she looked at him with glittering eyes. She didn't exactly know what she and Dexter were. They were good friends, sure, but they'd gotten to know each other much more intimately a couple of times. They'd even lived together at one point but they'd never put a label on their relationship. She knew he preferred it that way and she knew why, and so, no matter how much it hurt her, she let him go every time he wanted to leave. She never fought him or asked him to stay, she wanted him to, of course, but she knew the constant adventure was one of the only things still keeping him going. In the heat of the moment was when he really came alive, any other time he truly was a dead man. 

Dexter helped her wash up and he turned up the radio just as whichever DJ it was announced the next song- I'm gonna be (500 miles) by The Proclaimers . Dexter grinned at her, "You used to love this song." Leticia grinned back "Still do, Mr Vex, I still do." She started humming along to the tune when Dexter's hand around her waist spun her around and into his arms. She raised an eyebrow "What are you doing?" He grinned again and his eyes twinkled "I'm making sure things are good between us, Miss Rye." He started leading her in a dance. Not a graceful or elegant dance, a goofy, playful dance that matched the song perfectly. He started singing along in a ridiculously exaggerated accent which made Leticia laugh. He spun her and they danced around each other, grinning ear to ear. By the time the chorus came, they were both yelling the lyrics as loud as they pleased. They danced and sung, if you could call it that, until the song came to a close. Leticia collapsed against Dexter's chest, a giggling mess and he wrapped his muscled arms around her. She buried her face into his chest, "I missed you." she murmured against his shirt. He buried his face into her neck, "I missed you too." 

They stayed like that for a little while before shutting down downstairs and heading up. They got changed, Dexter had apparently already brought his bags upstairs. They snuggled in Leticia's bed together and held each other tight, like they were afraid to let go. Leticia pushed away the unwelcome knowledge that as soon as Temper was finished, Dexter would leave her again. She fought back tears as she understood that she wouldn't fight when he left, no matter how much she wanted to. No matter how much she wanted him, needed him, to stay she knew he couldn't. Because he needed that life, that constant change, just as much as she needed him. She knew she would have to let him go again in a few days so she held onto him that night, in case something tried to steal him away sooner. She loved Dexter Vex, even if he could never really love her back.


End file.
